Sunday, August 25, 2024

We had to be out of our cabin by 8:00 AM so the crew could turn it over for the next sailing, but we didn’t have to be off of the ship until 9:30 AM. So we brought our bags with us to one of the main dining rooms for a leisurely breakfast. Gotta maximize all of those included meals!

We disembarked easily carrying our own things because we don’t need 2 suitcases each for a 7-day vacation (seriously people, you don’t need all that shit). I wasn’t up for walking back home and Scott knew to not even ask, bless him. We just walked a hilly couple of blocks to catch a local bus home and walked in our front door about 10AM to be greeted by my favorite-est puppy in the whole wide world.

Since not a lot went on this day, I’ll just do my trip post-mortem here…

Overall and predominantly this trip was a huge WIN!!! The high points:

*Alaska is GORGEOUS. Obviously. I think having an itinerary that included Glacier NP and our luck with the weather took this over the top. Upgrading to the balcony cabin was worth the extra money for this route, no question.

*The NCL Encore was a great ship! The size of the boat felt sufficient for the number of passengers on board. I was always able to find a less crowded space when my introversion needed it, and never experienced sustained crowding. And I really loved the spaces with large windows and natural light (e.g., the Observation Lounge, some of the specialty restaurants, the District Brewhouse).

*Treating ourselves to the Thermal Suite was also definitely worth the extra money. For the most part (see below) it was a lovely quiet space to escape the crowds, and I enjoyed the large whirlpool. I found time to use it almost every day, and evenings near closing time were the best.

Not my YouTube Video, but it gives a good tour and idea of what we got for our money. Booking the week-long pass ahead was a good plan too to not risk it filling up.

*My rewards tier level is growing, but Scott having Platinum level for this trip was great for the extra specialty dinner credits. Between those credits and the ones included in our (Not) Free At Sea fare, we had specialty dinners on four of the seven nights of the cruise. The other benefits of Platinum weren’t too impactful for this trip – boarding at the port was so efficient for everyone that I think our “priority” line maybe only saved us 5 minutes, and for this short trip we didn’t use the free laundry bag.

*The port towns were really lovely. We decided on this trip to not book any port excursions since we know we will go back to these places again in the future. For this trip we would just wander off the ship and explore what was within the towns themselves. Each town – Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan – was so different from each other, but equally engaging. I’m thankful that the locals we encountered were so welcoming, the food/drinks were all so tasty, and they all had gorgeous public art.

The low point… the only low point:

*Honestly there was only one. I had been on three megaship cruises before this one, all of which were international destinations (mainland Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Iceland/Greenland). I know that the typical Americans that get on big cruise lines for these destinations are Republicans, however they were somewhat subtle and diluted a bit with the international clientele. But this time… ugh. The smell of MAGAts was strong and they brought paraphernalia with them. And one got lost in the Thermal Suite one day, yelling across it like it was a hillbilly pool club. I don’t know if this is the typical clientele for an Alaska cruise, but I will be sharing my experience with any friends considering taking one about our ship’s MAGAt infestation so they can consider their own comfort and safety before booking. I know that we will take more Alaska cruises in the future, so hopefully I discover this was just bad luck. But, per usual, I run skeptical.

So… thanks for the memories, NCL & Alaska! We’ll be seeing you again.

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Technically today was considered a port day so that NCL can make it’s legally-required stop in Victoria, BC, Canada. But that stop is from 8PM-11PM, and since we’ve both been many times before and can go whenever we want to we skipped it and considered this a sea day.

We just spent today soaking up the last vacay vibes. Slow meals, time on our balcony, time in the thermal suite.

Our last dinner was enjoyed in the included Manhattan Room and it was very tasty. Scott treated himself to some lobster.

Stick2One gave us our last live music in the quiet Observation Lounge.

Easy, slow, uneventful day. Perfect. Back home tomorrow…

Friday, August 23, 2024

NCL only allotted a half-day in Ketchikan for today’s port stop, 7AM-1:15PM. And it’s made even shorter by the fact that they dock quite a ways out of town requiring a (complimentary) old yellow school bus shuttle service. You can pay for an excursion that includes transportation, or hire a taxi for a chunk of money. I have vague memories of a $50 one-way price gouge on those taxis but who can blame a town for cashing in on dumb tourists especially when their tourist season is so short.

The great thing about the shuttles is that they are driven by locals who gave us commentary in both directions. On the way in our driver gave us general info about the town, and on the way back to the ship a different driver educated us about local tribe culture based on his own lived experience.

The town was quite a bit bigger than I had imagined, since so much tourist info on YouTube is focused on Creek Street.

We didn’t eat breakfast on the ship, so our natural first stop very near to the shuttle drop-off was Jellyfish Donuts. Perfect solution.

We then headed directly to Creek Street with its historic buildings and gift shops. I knew a creek ran through it (DUH) but was not prepared for the front row seats at the Olympics event of salmon running going on here. Those fish are badass.

We used our remaining time to wander and browse on our path back to the shuttle pick up area.

We stopped into a local book store so I could buy a sticker (always stickers) and Scott had this fortuitous find of his new favorite book:

I did that thing again where I walk into a local yarn shop “just to browse”. Yeah, you know where this is headed. Fabulous Fiber Arts was just too good, and I grabbed two more goodies from Raven Frog Fibers.

You can tell this was too short of a day because the only brewery experience was Scott ducking into Bawden Street Brewing for the fastest pint ever while I was yarn shopping. We definitely need to go back to Ketchikan with a longer port day scheduled or ideally another transportation method.

Back onboard we had our last specialty dinner meal at Q Texas Smokehouse with some live music. We enjoyed the food but again, way too much was served and I ended up feeling bad about the waste. Next time I’ll know to not order every course included in the price.

We finished up our evening with our reserved 10 PM showing of Choir of Man which was really well done!

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Scott let me pick the specific itinerary for this cruise, and I always knew I wanted a route that would include Glacier Bay National Park. I had been looking forward to this day for a very long time. Scott had treated us to a balcony cabin and thermal suite passes in part so we could maximize our peaceful views of this unique place.

Official Park Rangers were onboard all day providing commentary as we cruised the bay. They set up in the observation lounge to answer questions, and also brought along with them educational displays, the stamp for my NP Passport, and some souvenir offerings such as the postcard and sticker (always stickers) I’ve saved in my journal.

We took in the views from various points on the ship – the balcony and thermal suite of course, but also outdoor decks and the observation lounge. Scott claims that some small brown dots in the water were otters. I definitely saw whales today (as on other days), and of course… the glaciers.

OK, so here’s a photo dump of a fraction of what was taken. It may look like I added a gray filter to some of these, but I did not. Gray is my favorite color and I couldn’t have been happier that this was nature’s color scheme and mood for today. Magnificent.

In the evening we enjoyed live music from Stick2One in the Cavern Club for several sets. I may have demonstrated my exceptional dancing skills on a couple of different dance floors this night. You’re welcome, fellow cruisers.

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Today was our Skagway, Alaska stop, and we were scheduled to have a long port day here.

We wandered the streets of the very small town. It was quite quaint with pioneer-era buildings and small shops surrounded by an epic natural backdrop.

I got an official Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park stamp in my NP Passport, and also snagged a couple of extra stamps for my journal. Between those, a couple of stickers, and an artist postcard my journal for this day is quite well decorated.

Despite my insistence that I wouldn’t buy any yarn on this trip, I couldn’t stop myself from wandering into Boreal Artworks/Aurora Yarns “just to browse”. But then I found kits from Raven Frog Fibers that match a book that I already own and will use extensively when we start our RV retirement adventure. I restrained myself and only bought the kit for the NP we would see on this trip (Glacier), but then also couldn’t stop myself from buying this gorgeous yak & silk blend. BAH! Hi, I’m Stacy and I’m a yarnoholic.

We went for a coffee stop at The Sittin’ Sasquatch, sitting in the window to enjoy some people watching. I ordered a cappuccino and the manager/owner (?) warned me it would take a bit to make because they “do it right”. OK, he was not joking. This was one of the best cappuccinos I’ve ever had outside of Roma.

We stopped in at Skagway Brewing for a pint, which was a large-brewery experience. Typically breweries with souvenir shops attached aren’t my jam, but the beer was tasty and we enjoyed their peaceful back patio.

The brewery winner of the day was the much smaller Klondike Brewing. The outside upper deck with a view (that for some reason hardly anyone else noticed?) was perfection and we lingered there for quite awhile.

Scott suggested some more exploring out into a trail area called Yakutania Point and I grumbled. But I went anyway. And thank god we did because… well, Alaska was Alaska-ing on this glorious sunny day.

We eventually made it back to the boat and dressed for our 8:00 pm dinner reservation at Onda, the Italian restaurant. We had a lovely seat next to the window and really enjoyed the food which was much better than they had at the previous Italian specialty restaurant that was called La Cucina. In fact, Onda is probably my new favorite specialty restaurant. My only complaint was that it was SO MUCH food, but they were nice and averted their eyes when we walked out with pizza leftovers (for some reason I don’t think you’re supposed to do that).

Spoiler alert: This ended up being my favorite day of this trip. I know we will love finding Skagway again in the the future when we explore Alaska in our RV.

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Our first port stop for the cruise was Juneau, AK and it was today. But we also weren’t docking until 2:30 pm and were able to have a leisurely morning and early afternoon, soaking up the scenery in the quiet environments of our balcony and the thermal suite.

We had no specific plans or excursions booked for our time in Juneau, only a rough expectation of wandering through the city and likely checking out their breweries. As we pulled into port I could see how much smaller it felt than its title of State Capital might suggest. Although perhaps exactly the size you would expect knowing that it is the only US capital city that can only be accessed via air or sea.

NCL’s dock in Juneau is about a mile from the center, but we skipped the free shuttle (and the line) and opted to just walk in. The weather was overcast but pleasant.

We walked fairly quickly through the first shopping area we encountered, just off the closer cruise ship docks, that was hyper-touristy. Why are people traveling so far to just buy tshirts and plastic crap made in China?

We did enjoy taking a picture with this sign tho.

We pushed through to what felt just a bit more local (although still obviously surrounded by shops for tourists), and grabbed a coffee at Heritage. We sat in the window for people watching and overheard the barista telling another tourist which shops in town offered authentic indigenous art pieces. She specifically named Mt. Juneau Trading Post as a place that sold pieces made by her family member. That was our next stop, and it was a nice place to browse and enjoy the art. Luckily they had some portable items in my price range for me to pick up… stickers. <face palm>

Juneau also had some gorgeous public art pieces that I really, really loved. Public art is EVERYTHING.

And then on to the important work of the day… three breweries and a food truck court.

Devil’s Club Brewing was our mid-sized visit of the day. A nice variety of styles, and a good mix of locals and tourists inside. Hot tip: upstairs vibe was better (at least the day we were there).

Barnaby Brewing was our small-sized visit of the day, with that somewhat minimalist, industrial feel that a lot of new brewery spaces have. The beer here was my fave of the day, and not just because they had an adorable, friendly cat wandering around. Fun fact: apparently it’s really easy to break Alaska State Law, especially if you were hypothetically going to be visiting three breweries in one day.

UGH… THEY’RE PERMANENTLY CLOSED NOW! BUMMER!

And of course we hit up the ginormous Alaskan Brewing Public House with a big souvenir shop attached. I was part of the problem and bought stickers. Beers were about as good as these big places typically are. I am quite pleased that they haven’t sold out to Budweiser yet though, and Google tells me that as of 2016 they were the 19th largest craft brewery in the world. And their own website tells me that they’re “the 67th independent brewery in the country and the first brewery in Juneau since Prohibition.” That’s pretty cool!

There was a collection of food trucks in (behind?) a place labeled on Google Maps as Gunakadeit Park that looked great. Several options with covered outdoor seating. Definitely a lot of locals there. I indulged in a salmon crepe, and Scott was a monster and had a hotdog made out of Rudolph.

With full bellies and exacerbated liver damage we managed to avoid arrest and walked the mile back to the boat. And we went ahead and grabbed another photo next to the city sign along the way. Because why not? We are freaking adorable.

Once onboard, we were able to catch some end of the evening time in the super quiet thermal suite before heading to our comfy bed.

Until next time Juneau… I enjoyed our time together very much. And you’re right, gray really is the best color.

Monday, August 19, 2024

A full day at sea is the best way to start a cruise, I think. Time to settle in, decompress, find your vacation vibe. No alarm clock and a lazy pace.

We had two planned engagements for the day: the Latitudes event and another specialty dinner reservation.

Latitudes is the loyalty program for NCL, so if you have a certain tier or higher then you get invited to this event. I had pictured the event as more of a meet & mingle thing to meet other NCL nerds, but instead we were all seated separately at tables in the Q Texas Smokehouse specialty restaurant and served drinks and snacks while ship officers came around for awkward hellos. Maybe I’m the awkward thing, not the hellos.

After that was over we got changed and got our stuff together for our first Thermal Suite experience. This was something Scott splurged on for us to minimize the possibility that I would be a whiny brat on a cruise ship again. I took very minimal photos in the space during the trip, and zero today. But here’s a video that someone else made to give an idea:

What the video doesn’t say is that there are no children allowed and access to the space is limited to only a certain number of people. And generally it’s understood that this is a quiet space. (I say generally because one day there was a hillbilly sitting in the hot tub yelling across the room like it was a pool club, and no amount of passive aggressive stares were giving him a clue.) So if nothing else this is an awesome place to avoid most other humans, which is what my introvert heart adores the most.

Today I alternated between the big, warm, bubbly pool and a lounger with a crochet amigurumi project, my headphones, and an audiobook. I learned/reinforced previous learning that I’m not that into saunas or other types of “treatments”. But buying a thermal suite pass was definitely a huge WIN for this vacation and it was evident from this very first day of enjoyment!

As evening rolled around we dressed for dinner and decided to have a pre-meal drink at the District Brewhouse. Because we like beer. But I got a cocktail. The vibe and seating and natural light in this bar was fantastic – definitely a favorite spot on this ship!

Thanks to Scott’s Platinum status with Latitudes we had two additional specialty dining nights in addition to the two that already came with our cruise fare. So four out of our seven nights we were able to enjoy really nice meals. He’s kind of a big deal.

Tonight we had booked the steakhouse Cagney’s, and used the coupon that included the free bottle of wine. Which is kind of silly because you can have as many glasses of wine as you want with our cruise fare, but hey, why not. We got a pinot grigio because it’s my honey’s favorite.

Then for appetizers Scott got the grilled bacon and I got the shrimp trio, we each had steaks (obvi) for entrees, and we enjoyed some creme brulee for dessert. Decadent! I am a spoiled girl.

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Today we boarded our Alaska cruise. My first and Scott’s fourth! We were booked on the Norwegian Encore on a 7-night itinerary, embarking and disembarking in Seattle.

Readers of my prior cruise blogging might remember me as quite disenfranchised with the vacation method. But with some more careful planning, strategic upgrades, and taking advantage of Scott’s new loyalty tier perks I had high hopes this would be a different experience.

One thing I decided I wanted to duplicate from our last cruise experience was to walk to the port. In Reykjavik that distance was a hair under 2 miles, and granted this would be a bit longer. Maybe it would help me justify just a bit of the calories I would be consuming over the next week.

We set out by 9:00 am, and were rewarded very quickly into our route by the best wildlife viewing at The Ballard Locks I have ever had. Osprey being chased by seagulls, seals AND sea lions, heron, and a very full salmon ladder.

If you’re curious, my t-shirt says, “Sorry. Can’t. Hockey. Bye.”. It’s one of my most favorite Goodwill finds, ever. GOOOOO KRAKEN!!!

We crossed thru Magnolia to join the Elliott Bay Trail down through Myrtle Edwards Park to get to the waterfront.

The weather was perfect and we live in a very pretty place. I had to sit for a few minutes rest in Myrtle Edwards due to a pain down my leg. I think my IT band was being irritated from my pack putting pressure on my left hip? Overall the trip was a flat 5.5 miles and took us about around 2.5 hours, just in time for our scheduled 11:30 am boarding time.

I tried the Relive app… so fun!

Check-in was super smooth and efficient. I think Scott’s priority boarding status only saved us 5-10 minutes.

Once onboard we did our super fast muster station check-in and then headed to The Local for lunch. It’s one of NCL’s included food venues that’s open 24 hours (or maybe just nearly 24 hours?). It’s a great option for people like me that aren’t buffet fans but want something less fussy than a big dining room. I quickly noted that the food quality of our lunch was better than what we had on our Iceland/Greenland cruise last year – I’m thinking it’s probably more difficult for them to source in Reykjavik?

After lunch we wandered the boat (don’t bother correcting me to say “ship”, because that is a ridiculous thing to correct someone about). We got a tour of the thermal suite and made sure we didn’t overpay for our pass by purchasing in advance (I’ll write more about this place later). We also checked out the casino and got the info on how to accrue points for possible rewards (um, you just put your room key in the machine… duh). We ended up on the “Waterfront” for awhile, which is outside along deck 8, drinking at the Cavern Club and chatting with Republicans (which was easier to do back in August).

When they made the announcement that rooms were accessible we went to check ours out. Very happy with our splurge on the balcony room! Super comfy and spacious for us, and our deck was oddly longer due to our cabin location – the last starboard cabin before the cabins switch to aft-facing. Cabin 9916!

When your man has Platinum status you even get to find chocolate covered strawberries in your room!

A little bit before the scheduled sail away time we went up to the top deck for views of our amazing city and to check out the aptly-named sail away party. It was the most well-attended and energetic sail away party that I’ve been to… the people watching was great, especially since I was a few well-poured cocktails and beers in at this point.

Our bags came pretty late, maybe around 4-5pm, but still in plenty of time to change for our 8 pm dinner reservation at Los Lobos, the Mexican-inspired specialty dining restaurant. The reviews we found of this place online and on YouTube leading up to the cruise were right – this was some very enjoyable Mexican-ish food!

I didn’t last much past dinner and enjoyed our comfy bed immensely.

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Cross stitching as a hobby is a bit difficult for me to admit. Somehow it feels more geriatric than my knitting. But it’s one of the first crafting hobbies I had as a child, and recently when I needed a knitting break I went in search of a project that interested me. It had been so long that my first instinct was to go to Joann’s to look for kits and patterns, and I was surprised how limited the selections were these days. Then I got a clue and looked on Etsy, where apparently there is a cross stitch pattern for anything you could possibly think of. OK, well that’s not true because I have a dark and inappropriate imagination. But there are some good ones…

Alas I did not succumb to my basest instincts, and instead found a wonderful seller with patterns for every single US National Park. Score.

I purchased the Mt. Rainier pattern from their “Mini” (6″x6″ on 14 count) collection in January, then went to Joann’s (or was it Michael’s?) for the hoop, aida, and floss. I tend to be a pattern follower so I attempted to buy all of the prescribed DMC colors from the pattern, but when they were out of some I made substitutions of similar colors. I didn’t feel good about that, but that was pre-medicated ADHD-brained Stacy so I had to get everything immediately in order to get started on my new dopamine fix now, right now. #impulsecontrol #allornothingthinking

I just finished the project and am happy overall with the process and outcome. I’ve brightened this photo, but left contrast, color saturation, etc. without edits.

The aspects I’m not 100% in love with are the fabric, the thread saturation (that might not be the right word), and all of the color choices. I went ahead and did some YouTube viewing and ordered linen for my next project, which will be a first for me. I’m also going to experiment with 3 strands instead of 2 on the next one to hopefully get more color density (that seems like a better word). And for sure I will not automatically go with the pattern-prescribed DMC choices for the entire project.

I ordered the patterns for Olympic National Park and North Cascades National Park, and as soon as the linen is delivered I’ll be doing some floss shopping.

I could see us a few decades from now, when we return to a home base with walls, framing a whole collection of these as mementos from our many, many years on the road.

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Some life updates… neurodiversity, retirement planning, summer plans, travel plans (x2):

The Trendy Diagnosis

My ~~suspected~~ ADHD brain actually let me follow through on a goal I’ve had for awhile now. I got evaluated and officially diagnosed, so I am now a confirmed ADHDer! I also worked with a nurse practitioner to figure out the right medication and dosage for me.

Can I tell you that Adderall is a game changer for me? To folks unfamiliar with the ADHD brain this is going to make me sound unwell, but Adderall makes the voices in my head go away. I no longer have a continuous narrative loop in my mind telling me everything I should be doing and that I’m a loser for not doing all of the things. I also sleep a lot less, which has been a bit of an emotional adjustment since I really loved excess sleep. I think I loved it because it was the only time I couldn’t hear my narrator. But now when my mind turns on at 6:00 or 7:00 am I’m learning to accept it and not fight it.

And being on Adderall reminds me of when I first got on Bupropion (aka Wellbutrin) for depression – it didn’t cure my disorder, but gave me the mental room I needed make the life changes necessary to squash my ever-imposing chronic depression, and eventually get off the medication. Not a quick solution at all – I started that medication in 2011 or 2012, and stopped it just last year. So far with the Adderall support I’m learning about time blindness, and managing ebbs and flows of energy, and creating routines, and learning how to work through an all-or-nothing mindset. Maybe someday I can do these things without the pharmaceutical support, but I’m not in a rush.

FIRE-ing

Thanks to Uncle Joe a bunch more months counted towards my student loan forgiveness and moved up that timeline.

And the accounts keep growing. It’s starting to feel real that we are going to be able to start that full-time travel thing in the next couple/few years. So we have followed through and hired a fee-only financial planning company to help us sort out some details and learn some nuts and bolts. Scott has been sending them our information and was told he might have the best spreadsheet they’ve ever seen. That made Scott’s year, I think. We have a big 4-hour session in a couple of weeks to see what advice they have.

Summer Side Hustle

I will be “working” for a few days at the start of summer break. It’s 5 days. It includes field trips, and a baseball game, and two meals at a couple of Seattle’s best restaurants. I get to hang out with international visitors. I’ll be getting a paycheck. This seems too good to be true.

Another Country

We have a trip to Japan booked for July. Even though we aren’t full-time travelers yet, we still prefer slow travels on our trips. So instead of following a typical recommendation for a two week itinerary to catch a train to a new overnight stay every 2-3 nights, we are spending 7 nights in Tokyo and 9 nights in Kyoto. Those two locations have a lifetime of things to see in and of themselves, plus there are lots of day trip options from each. We know we will love Japan and want to return, so why try to cram everything into one trip? We shall move slow and smell the tea. Except when we are driving these.

I Prefer to Call Them Boats, I Don’t Care What People Say

A stranger (maybe a cruise employee I can’t remember) actually verbally corrected me when I called the vessel we were on last summer a “boat”. Cruise people are so weird. They get offended when you don’t call it a “ship”. Get over yourselves. Plus, when you have a (copied) Midwest accent it’s way more fun to say “boat” than “ship”.

We have an Alaska cruise booked for a week in August. I’ve only been to Anchorage on a short work trip before. Scott has been on three cruises before, including one last year that he did without me. First of all, we are not codependent and know how to enjoy ourselves apart. Second, he had vacation time he had to use up and I couldn’t take time off at the beginning of the school year. Third, he brought me home souvenir stickers and scouted yarn shops for me. So, anyway, this year I am going on one with him. It’s a week, and we don’t have to fly anywhere to catch it. We can take the bus or even walk if we want. Scott is treating me by paying for an upgrade to a balcony cabin AND we are going to buy thermal suite passes. This will not be a repeat of my bad attitude on the cruise last summer.